after staying at novy mlyn for a month i finally made it out to prague for a couple of days.
the rain ceased for a day giving me the perfect opportunity to wander, sight see, and visit museums.

prague castle

tourist central, so it seemed

views from the charles bridge

old town square

an astronomical clock

a rug design being made from flower petals from belgium, on display for 3 days
i got very lucky to hear about this while i happened to be in the area

ive never seen an original from mucha before coming here,
and now ill never forget those that i saw.
simply amazing!
if i remember correctly i was smiling the whole time i was in here.

the dancing house

although this weekend camping trip ended up raining more than the tent could handle,
i will never forget how much beauty the czech countryside holds in its silence.

weekend trip down to cesky krumlov,
which was the first castle town i saw

one of the best antique shops ive seen in europe so far, located in cesky krumlov.
i would have gladly taken more photos, but didnt want to offend the owner...

into the woods for a mushroom hunt

these are all beautiful specimens but arent edible

joshua and i coming back from a mushroom hunt,
with curious hungry horses and a curiously frightened bunbury

i really meant to take more photos from the interior of novy mlyn,
but there was so much going on, and my last day there crept up on me faster than i would have liked.
i did manage to take a photo of the view from my bedroom window, at dusk.

at long last i can finally post more photos.
ive got over 150 photos to post, and am trying to organize them well.
lets start with my favorites:

baked good from the farm

i helped joshua very little with this beauty:
apple pie with an almond crust (the leaves were my idea)

eggs florentine!
joshua made the english muffins and hollandaise sauce,
i gathered the chanterelles from the woods, joshua gathered the sorrel,
and i finally learned how to poach eggs

wheat germ muffins with honey and dried apricots,
perfect for elevenses with english tea

my faithful traveling buddy, rain, has found me yet again.

its hard to embrace a new city when its gloomy and raining.
i hear budapest is usually quite lovely...

im leaving for budapest tomorrow.
i didnt spend enough time to really take in bratislava,
but i am on a time constraint and want to spend at least a week in budapest.

so much to see and so little time...

im leaving for bratislava tomorrow, and have many photos from the past 2 weeks.
unfortunately i wont be able to post them until i get a memory card adapter for the camera i am borrowing.

today was spend biking through vienna, with favorable weather and lots of people watching.

with my good luck, yesterday being the first saturday of the month also meant flea market day.
the flea market came as a great pleasure and surprise as i was already enjoying the vast outdoors food market.
countless stands with colorful fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, cheese, wine, beer, candy, nuts, dried fruit etc.
also, intermixed with the produce stands were cafes, restaurants, and quick eats food stands.

it was a lot to take in, especially with a hungry belly and the willpower not to buy anything.
someday i will travel with more money, and when i do i will made sure to come back to vienna for there outdoor market.


pictures on the way

echinacea flowers from the garden

tasty pavalova that rosie made, with bilberries and lime zest

lavender to dry in the kitchen window

lavender from the garden

im slowly packing up before leaving the farm, which is very sad since this feels like home.

im heading out for prague next, then on to vienna, bratislava and budapest.

ive got loads of pictures to come, including some taken this past weekend from the sumava national park,
which borders austria, germany and the czech republic.
everything was beautiful despite the cold weather and rain in the tent...
i also will include pictures from cesky krumlov, a lovely castle village with a darling antique shop as well.

im trying to start a food diary with all the tasty food ohers have made on the farm,
including all the food i have made for others.

until i get more pictures uploaded, here is my very first apple pie :)